Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Feeling almost every symptom in the book and this baby is trying to bust out big time, but no real labor yet! Everyone is super anxious to meet this lil' one. The mom told me she woke up the other night dreaming she heard the phone ring, she went to check it, NOTHING! I will try to post when I am in labor, not sure how crazy things will be though. I have an appt on Friday.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

No exciting news from today's appt. Everything seems fine. My blood pressure is good at 110/72, only gained half a pound from last week, baby's heart rate was 136. I am measuring right where I am supposed to be - 38 weeks ( I think I am enormous!) Baby's head remains down like it should be. No internal exam done - they usually don't check dilation until closer to the due date. My next appt is not till next Friday - let's hope this baby comes before then. ;)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Overall, I am feeling good. No REAL problems. That end of pregnancy tiredness has hit hard though! I doze a bit in the afternoon usually and often fall asleep with or right after the kids go to sleep, around 8 pm! I then sleep until 6:30 AM. I should be getting plenty of rest, but dang! I am a big ol' lazy bones! lol My tailbone pain comes and goes. Right now, it is coming - ouch! :) I swear I feel this baby gives kicks to my cervix sometimes. I envision my mucous plug popping out like a cork out of champagne! lol I am hanging in there!

Monday, November 14, 2011

I had an appt today. Everything was great. My strep B test was negative so that is good. If I remember correctly, as long as there are no problems, the baby can leave after 24 hours if this test is negative, otherwise needs to stay 48 hours for monitoring. My blood pressure was 118/80. Baby's heart rate was 142. I gained 2.5 pounds in 6 days!!!!!!! ALL baby, I swear! lol I am feeling enormous! :) They scheduled the next 2 weeks of appts.

The doctor is out next week for Thanksgiving vacation. He will be back on the 30th. He expressed that he would really like to deliver this baby as he has never delivered a baby via surrogacy and would love to be part of the experience and meet everyone involved. It was very sweet.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

I will be 37 weeks on Tuesday! I am very tired, get out of breath easily, and my tailbone is KILLING me! It is an incredible feat to turn in bed these days. Other than that, I am feeling great! ;) VERY soon, I will feel a TON lighter, look forward to some glasses of wine and good sleep, and seeing this wonderful baby in the arms of his/her parents.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I had an OB appt this morning with the doctor. Everything checked out great. I gained 2.5 lbs in the last 3 weeks and swear it is ALL baby! My blood pressure is looking great at 124/80. Baby's heart rate was at 153. They did the strep B test. They have always been negative in the past. Baby's head remains down and is sitting low, not yet engaged though. The doctor made a guess that I would go a couple of weeks early - guess we will see. The plan is if it is during office hours or when he is on call when we deliver, the doctor will deliver, otherwise, as long as there are no complications, the midwives will deliver. At this point, they have me going in weekly.

Here are some quilts I have made for big brother at home waiting for his new sibling and for the baby I am carrying. I am putting them in the mail tomorrow to send to the family - hope they like them.

The momma said they redecorated his room in boats and fish, so hopefully it goes well with his decor.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This baby will be arriving before we know it! Braxton Hicks contractions are crazy! I would be really surprised if we make it to the due date, but I have said that before with my pregnancies and no such luck of those babies coming earlier!

My 4 year old took these pics during our walk in the woods today- this is as good as it gets. ;)

My family

Welcome to my surrogacy blog!

Hi. My name is Carla. I am married to Brian. We have been married almost 10 years. We had 3 children in 2.5 years: Gareth (6-06), Zane (9-07), and Iris (1-09). Brian works as a web programmer. I used to be a social worker for people with developmental disabilities, but now stay home with our children.

In June 2009, we moved from a nice, cookie cutter subdivision to a humble, little, farm house, on 10 acres, in rural east central Illinois. We are interested in living a simpler life moving towards self sufficiency. We are interested in homesteading, gardening, beekeeping, and atheism/secular humanism/skepticism. I am a crafter of all sorts of creations - love to sew and quilt, and have many other interests, including weaving, pottery, painting, scrapbooking, among other things.

Our family feels complete - we are very done having babies for ourselves! My husband had a vasectomy to ensure that we would not be surprised with another baby.

I started thinking about becoming a gestational surrogate during my second pregnancy. The feelings I had did not fade, so here we are now. We were lucky enough to conceive quickly/naturally and have "easy" pregnancies. I have friends and have read about many people that have fertility issues and it does not come so easily for them. It saddens me that they can not fulfill their dreams. I was able to help a couple complete their family, delivering a baby girl, in December 2011. I am now on my second and final journey, helping 2 men from Argentina become daddies, with additional help from an egg donor.

Feel free to ask any questions. I tend to be an open book as long as there is genuine, sincere, respectful interest.